Problems with widgetized footer

This is my first time posting here because usually I stick to working within my limits! I managed to widgetize my footer by altering functions.php and footer.php… the widgets show up when I activate them but they override all existing css for the footer?

i.e. my footer now has a grey background and is the same width as the main content… when I activate widgets, it becomes a transparent background, full screen width footer… which is useless against my patterned background..

Any suggestions on how I can fix the width and use widgets in the footer?